Shaftesbury School

Shaftesbury School at a glance

Located in Shaftesbury, Dorset, Shaftesbury School is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a converter academy with a Church of England religious character. The school educates roughly 864 pupils aged 11 to 18. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 39.1, below the national average of 46. That is down 3.0 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

28% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 53% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Shaftesbury School was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 95 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 96% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 11.4%. There are about 15.5 pupils per teacher. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.